We used Au nanoparticles (Au-NPs) as a model for studying particle specific effects of manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs) by examining the toxicogenomic responses in a model soil organism, free living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Global genome expression for nematodes exposed to 4-nm citrate-coated Au-NPs at the LC10 (5.9 mg L-1) revealed significant differential expression of 797 genes. The levels of expression for five genes (apl-1, dyn-1, act-5, abu-11, and hsp-4) were confirmed independently with qRT-PCR. Seven common biological pathways associated with 38 of these genes were identified. Activation of 26 pqn/abu genes from noncanonical Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) pathway and up-regulation of molecular chaperones (hsp-16.1, hsp-70, hsp-3 and hsp-4) were observed and are likely indicative of endoplasmic reticulum stress. Inhibition of abu-11 with RNAi showed increase in mortality in Au-NP exposed nematodes suggesting possible involvement of abu-11 (a gene associated with specific to C. elegans UPR) in a protective mechanism against Au-NPs. Exposure to Au-NPs also caused activation of genes involved in apoptosis and necrosis and resulted ultimately in 10% mortality. These results demonstrate that Au-NPs are bioavailable and cause adverse effects to a model ecoreceptor which activate both general and specific biological pathways.
Toxicogenomic responses of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to gold nanoparticles.
Treatment
View SamplesWe scored adrenocortical carcinomas and adenomas for abnormal beta-catenin staining, and sequenced the beta-catenin gene in some samples. We compared adrenocortincal carcinomas with and without abnormal beta-catenin staining and found many significant expression differences and significant results from enrichment testing. A similar comparison in the adenomas gave relatively few differences, and they did not correlate to differences found for the carcinomas. Abnormal beta-catenin staining was associated with mitotic rate and poorer patient survival in the carcinomas. In a second independent data set (given in a supplement) we again found beta-catenin associated with poor survival. The array data given is the same as GEO series GSE10927, with additional characteristics about beta-catenin, and new patient followup data. The analysis shown in a supplementary Excel file is also new.
Progression to adrenocortical tumorigenesis in mice and humans through insulin-like growth factor 2 and β-catenin.
Sex, Age
View SamplesLung disease causes most of the morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF). However, understanding its pathogenesis has been hindered by lack of an animal model with characteristic features of CF. To overcome this problem, we recently generated pigs with targeted CFTR genes. We now report that within months of birth, CF pigs spontaneously develop hallmark features of CF lung disease including airway inflammation, remodeling, mucus accumulation, and infection. Their lungs contained multiple bacterial species, suggesting an equal opportunity host defense defect. In humans, the temporal and/or causal relationships between inflammation and infection have remained uncertain. To investigate these processes, we studied newborn pigs. Their lungs showed no inflammation, but were less often sterile than controls. Moreover, after intrapulmonary bacterial challenge, CF pigs failed to eradicate bacteria as effectively as wild- type pigs. These results suggest that impaired bacterial elimination is the pathogenic event that initiates a cascade of inflammation and pathology in CF lungs. Finding that CF pigs have a bacterial host defense defect within hours of birth provides an exciting opportunity to further investigate pathogenesis and to test therapeutic and preventive strategies before secondary consequences develop.
Cystic fibrosis pigs develop lung disease and exhibit defective bacterial eradication at birth.
Specimen part
View SamplesHuman umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) formed capillary structures when co-cultured with normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs). HUVEC competence and NHDF supportiveness of cord formation were found to be highly cell-passage dependent with the early passage cells forming more angiogenic cord structures. We thus profiled gene expression in NHDFs with different passages to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the in vitro angiogenesis control.
Developing and applying a gene functional association network for anti-angiogenic kinase inhibitor activity assessment in an angiogenesis co-culture model.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesProtein deficiency and intestinal parasite infection during pregnancy impair fetal growth through passage of signals from the maternal environment which signal impairment of fetal growth. The placenta is an important regulator of the transfer of these signals through differential expression of key placental genes. We used microarrays to examine placental gene expression responses to maternal protein deficiency (6% vs. 24% protein) and Heligmosomoides bakeri infection.
Expression of growth-related genes in the mouse placenta is influenced by interactions between intestinal nematode (Heligmosomoides bakeri) infection and dietary protein deficiency.
Specimen part
View SamplesBiomarkers of osteoarthritis (OA) that can accurately diagnose the disease at the earliest stage would significantly support efforts to develop treatments for prevention and early intervention. The different stages of disease progression are described by the complex pattern of transcriptional regulations. The dynamics in pattern alterations were monitored in each individual animal during the time-course of OA progression.
Blood Transcriptional Signatures for Disease Progression in a Rat Model of Osteoarthritis.
Treatment
View SamplesThe goal of the project was to isolate single miRNA-expressing cells labelled by GFP reporter genes under the control of endogenous miRNA promoters and analyze expression levels of miRNA target genes in these cells. GFP-positive miRNA-expressing cells and GFP-negative cells from the rest of the embryos were purified at the same developmental stage to the cellular resolution using fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS). Focus was on regulation by miR-206 and miR-133 in the developing somites and miR-124 in the developing central nervous system. Comparison of wild-type embryos and those lacking miRNAs revealed predicted
Coherent but overlapping expression of microRNAs and their targets during vertebrate development.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesSmall RNA deep sequencing analysis was conducted on primary human fibroblasts infected with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). HCMV-encoded miRNAs accumulated to ~20% of the total smRNA population at late stages of infection, and our analysis led to improvements in viral miRNA annotations and identification of novel HCMV miRNAs. Through crosslinking and immunoprecipitation of Argonaute-bound RNAs from infected cells, followed by high-throughput sequencing (Ago CLIP-seq), we obtained direct evidence for incorporation of all HCMV miRNAs into the endogenous host silencing machinery. Additionally, significant upregulation was observed during infection for a host miRNA cluster containing miR-96, miR-182 and miR-183. We also identified novel non-miRNA forms of virus-derived smRNAs, revealing greater complexity within the smRNA population during HCMV infection. Overall design: High-throughput profiling of smRNAs, Ago1-, and Ago2-associated miRNAs from HCMV-infected fibroblast cells. Wild-type HCMV Towne (Genbank FJ616285.1) was used for these studies.
High-resolution profiling and analysis of viral and host small RNAs during human cytomegalovirus infection.
Specimen part, Treatment, Subject
View SamplesHistone H3.3 is a highly conserved histone H3 replacement variant in metazoans, and has been implicated in many important biological processes including cell differentiation and reprogramming. Germline and somatic mutations in H3.3 genomic incorporation pathway components, or in H3.3 encoding genes, have been associated with human congenital diseases and cancers, respectively. However, the role of H3.3 in mammalian development remains unclear. To address this question, we generated H3.3 null mouse models through classical genetic approaches. We found H3.3 plays an essential role in mouse development. Complete depletion of H3.3 leads to developmental retardation and early embryonic lethality. At the cellular level, H3.3 loss triggers cell cycle suppression and cell death. Surprisingly, H3.3 depletion does not dramatically disrupt gene regulation in the developing embryo. Instead, H3.3 depletion causes dysfunction of heterochromatin structures at telomeres, centromeres and pericentromeric regions of chromosomes leading to mitotic defects. The resulting karyotypical abnormalities and DNA damage lead to p53 pathway activation. In summary, our results reveal that an important function of H3.3 is to support chromosomal heterochromatic structures, thus maintaining genome integrity during mammalian development. Overall design: RNA-seq in embryos at E10.5 comparing 3 samples with the following genotype Trp53-/-; H3f3afl/-; H3f3bfl/-; Sox2-CreTg/0 to three samples with the following genotype Trp53-/-; H3f3afl/+; H3f3bfl/+; Sox2-CreTg/0
Histone H3.3 maintains genome integrity during mammalian development.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesOf the thousands of long non-coding RNAs expressed in embryonic stem (ES) cells, few have known roles and fewer have been functionally implicated in the regulation of self-renewal and pluripotency or reprogramming somatic cells to the pluripotent state. In ES cells, Cyrano is a stably expressed long intergenic non-coding RNA with no previously assigned role. We demonstrate that Cyrano contributes to ES cell maintenance, as its depletion results in loss of hallmarks of self-renewal. Delineation of Cyrano''s network through transcriptomics revealed widespread effects on signaling pathways and gene expression networks that contribute to ES cell maintenance. Cyrano shares unique sequence complementarity with the differentiation-associated microRNA, mir-7, and mir-7 overexpression reduces expression of a key self-renewal factor to a similar extent as Cyrano knockdown. This suggests that Cyrano functions to restrain the action of mir-7. Altogether, we provide a view into the multifaceted function of Cyrano in ES cell maintenance. Overall design: RNA-seq on mouse R1 embryonic stem (ES) cells with two biological replicates transfected with an shRNA knockdown of Cyrano and two biological replicates transfected with a non-targeting control vector.
Long Noncoding RNA Moderates MicroRNA Activity to Maintain Self-Renewal in Embryonic Stem Cells.
Specimen part, Cell line, Subject
View Samples